~Chapter 2~
The sun was blazing down on me was like a physical pressure weighing me down. My forehead was plastered with sweat and I could feel my shirt sticking to my body. I was in deep need of water; trudging towards the car with bags overflowing my arms, and pulling a large heavy suitcase was overworking me. I cursed myself internally for not removing my jacket before leaving the plane. Luckily, we’d arrived mid-day, when the sun was at its most pleasant temperature, a nice boiling ninety-nine degrees.
Arizona.
The worst place possible to spend the summer, and this was where we were moving to. Either Jill wanted me to loathe her, or was hoping I’d commit suicide. One summer in Glendale was enough to scar me for life. I would prefer jumping off a two story building into a lake full of crocodiles than moving here. I really hated my aunt right now.
But my anger was so feeble, because I was feeling exceptionally exhausted from our ten-minute journey from the plane, with the sun beating down on me, its rays severely hot. I was sure you could fry an egg on the sidewalk if you wanted to. The only thing that comforted me the slightest was that Jill looked twice as worn out as I did—as a forty-year-old woman, the heat was taking its toll on her as well, and she carried nearly almost as many bags as I did.
I searched the parking lot, hardly able to see because I was squinting so hard to avoid the sunlight hitting my eyes, desperately looking for the red Toyota that belonged to Aunt Jill’s friend Charlie, who was supposed to be picking us up and taking us to our new home. I was slightly disinclined to see our new house; because I had a feeling it wasn’t so great. Yesterday during dinner Jill had been speaking with a friend of hers about our new home, and her sour expression told me it wasn’t the most beautiful thing in the world.
Finally, at long last, I spotted the old red Toyota. It came as a blessing, and I hurried forward, a heavy bag nearly slipping out of my arms in my hurry to get in a structure with air-conditioning. I heard Aunt Jill’s heavy breaths behind me as she struggled to keep up; obviously she had noticed the car too.
It seemed to take forever, like I was trapped in one of those horrible dreams where the item of your yearning was moving further and further away, but I finally reached the car, twice as sweaty as I had been when I was fifty feet away. Jill bustled behind me, panting, and I saw a man get out of the driver’s seat and go around to help her. I supposed this was Charlie. He was short and thickset, with stubble on his chin and a hearty look in his eyes. He wore a Hawaiian shirt open over a dirty tank top and khaki shorts. He smiled at the look on Jill’s face, his dark eyes twinkling with enthusiasm.
“Here,” Charlie grunted, heaving her bags and suitcases onto the bed of his truck. He then turned to me with a kind smile.
“Hi, there, you must be Audrey.”
I nodded, noticing Aunt Jill’s severe expression behind Charlie’s back. It was the you-better-be-polite sort of look. Charlie lifted my bags, with minor difficulty, onto his truck.
“Charlie is living next door to us, Audrey,” Jill said as she passed me, climbing into the backseat. Charlie went around to the driver’s, which only left the passenger seat for me. I climbed in and shut the door, eyeing Jill through the side view mirror. She was fanning herself with one hand and pushing back her hair with another.
I noticed another face beside Jill’s, and turned in my seat to see a pretty girl around nine wearing a scruffy baseball cap and worn jeans, with dirt smeared on one of her cheeks.
“Should leave the windows down,” Charlie mumbled to himself, noticing how Aunt Jill was fanning herself. He turned up the air.
“Audrey,” Jill said, once she noticed me looking over, “this is Kennedy.”
I smiled at the girl, eyeing the reddish hair tucked beneath her baseball cap. There was a friendly glimmer in her light brown eyes, and she smiled politely back and then averted her gaze to look out the window.
“Enjoying the heat?” Charlie asked, backing out of the parking space as I turned around in my seat again.
“Very much,” Aunt Jill said sarcastically.
I positioned myself in front of the air vents so the cool air swept through my hair and at my face.
“What about you?” Charlie asked doubtfully, glancing at me. “You have on that sweater, you must be boiling.”
I noticed I still had it on and slipped it off. Unfortunately, I’d be incapable of hiding my face in my hood for this summer. The heat was just too intolerable, and I wasn’t risking dehydration just because I didn’t like when people stared at me. I’d never understood why people always had done that, it hadn’t made sense to me. Jill had continued to badger me about my clothing choice, and that I should dress more feminine, but I never understood why.
Charlie and Aunt Jill conversed, and I listened, drifting in and out. I was more preoccupied in watching the scenery outside, the dry earth, the dusty roads, the dry trees with very few leaves, cactuses, and most noticeable of all: the sweltering sun sending down deadly hot beams of sunlight, baking my surroundings.
I was still angry about having to move here. I wouldn’t let Jill forget that. So whenever she asked me a question, I mumbled a very short answer and turned away, satisfied I’d angered her. The scene began to change as we drove, the trees increased in number, though they were all equally bare. There were houses, and I wondered which was mine—maybe the pretty yellow one, or the tall blue one. The wind blowing in from the window gusted into my face and cooled me down, lifting my spirits a little. Meanwhile, Kennedy stayed silent and out of Charlie and Aunt Jill’s conversation too, only speaking when addressed directly.
We came to a halt at a gas station, and Aunt Jill murmured for me to stay in the car then hurried off to the 7-eleven to buy bottles of water as Charlie filled the car’s tank. I watched civilians walking by, all wearing shorts or tank tops, looking not at all perturbed by the sun’s agonizing heat. A young man, maybe in his early twenties, was crossing the gas station to his car, and noticed me when he reached it, and stared at me with a strange look on his face. I stared back, feeling my face reddening further when his eyes lingered on me for a moment, like I was someone he knew. Then rapidly, he shook his head and headed inside his car and drove away. I let out my breath once he was gone, annoyed and confused.
“You’re from Portland, right?” a voice asked me from behind.
I turned to see Kennedy, eyeing at me curiously, cocking her head to one side.
I couldn’t help but smile, though I was trying to put on that repelling detached façade.
“Yes,” I responded, my eyes running over her pretty but dirt-ridden face.
She smirked. “You don’t seem to like your aunt very much.”
I shifted in my seat so I was facing her. I could hear Charlie humming tunelessly outside, still filling the car’s tank.
“You wouldn’t like her either, if she made you move from nice and wet to hot and dry,” I replied. This girl seemed very easy to get along with. The kind of down-to-earth person you need once in a while.
“You’ll get used to it here,” she murmured, looking distantly out the front windshield at something I couldn’t see. “The heats not all that bad.”
“It is to me,” I mumbled childishly, sighing and looking down at the ground. I lifted my head after a couple seconds to look at Kennedy again. “Is Charlie your father?” I asked her, mildly curious.
“No, he’s my uncle,” she muttered. “My brother calls him loony, cause he’s always so jolly, skipping around everywhere.” She smiled.
I narrowed my eyes in confusion. “Your brother? Do you both live with your uncle?”
“We’re visiting for the summer. Him and Aunt Gladys.”
“Hmm,” I murmured thoughtfully, turning around in my seat.
We were silent for a few moments, before Kennedy spoke again.
“Did you know that guy?” she asked, and I looked to see she was pushing herself forward on the edge of her seat.
“What guy?”
“The dude who was staring at you.”
“Oh—no, I didn’t.” I looked away from her insightful gaze and out the window, watching Aunt Jill stumbling her way towards the car with a pack of water in her arms.
Kennedy watched her too, expression impassive, and didn’t say anything. She slid back into her seat, watching Charlie punch the numbers into the gas machine and then return to the car after paying. I resumed my quiet stature once Aunt Jill was inside the car. She had ripped the pack of water open and had handed one bottle to Kennedy. Once Charlie was back in his seat she gave him one, and then me. I took it wordlessly, as opposed to everyone else muttering a “thanks”, and took a long drink. The cold water was a relief to my parched throat; I felt as though I’d been holding my breath underwater for ages and my head had finally broken the surface.
The rest of the journey towards my unknown home continued, and like before the trip to the gas station, Kennedy and I remained quiet during the trip, while Aunt Jill and Charlie chattered away. I tried not to listen; a headache was forming in my mind. It was no relief to think of the fact that today’s work was far from over—I still had to unpack all the crap I’d brought from Portland. The only thing that could give me some hope was that Kennedy lived right next door.
* * *
Once the car had stopped, I thought for a moment Charlie had made a mistake, for it had halted in front of the ugliest house I’d ever seen.
It was tall, two stories, made of rotting wood, looking like a haunted house waiting to come alive. The front lawn was in very poor condition—weeds stood up everywhere, and the grass was dry and arid, and there was a small garden bordering the front that looked like a jungle of vegetation. There was an emptiness that screamed from the hazy windows of the large building, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t like any of it. What I’d give to be back in Portland, locked in my room, listening to music...
“Well, here it is,” Charlie grunted, and went around back to unload our bags.
I still sat in the car, frozen with disbelief, thinking maybe my aunt was the one who’d gone mental instead. I shook my head indignantly at the hideous house and looked behind me to see where Kennedy had gone, and saw she had departed the car as well. I opened the passenger door and stood outside, staring up at my new, permanent home. This couldn’t be it. It looked like the house of Freddy Krueger. It looked a hundred years old and full of things I was sure Jill wouldn’t even recognize. This house needed so much work it’d take two lifetimes to make it look decent.
Tearing my eyes from the horrid waste of wood in front of me, I looked to the house next door. I couldn’t compare the house to mine, because it didn’t seem to be finished yet. It looked like they were lengthening the house and fixing the roof, and there were tools and cables and a bunch of other devices scattered on the ground and a ladder by the side of the house. That building, though, would sell faster than this one any day.
With a deep sigh of resignation, I turned in time to see Charlie pulling my suitcase and carrying my bags.
“I’ll take them,” I said quickly, stepping forwards to retrieve my things.
“No, no, it’s fine, Audrey, you go inside and check out your new home,” he said gruffly, heading towards the porch, which looked so feeble I was afraid it would cave in at any second. Charlie pulled a key out of his pocket as Jill arrived on the steps beside him, and jammed it into the doorknob, then pushed the door open. I could see couches inside—apparently Charlie had already furnished our house for us. I was grateful for that.
I felt something nudge my arm, and looked down to see Kennedy at my side. Her expression was pleased, like she was amused at the horrified look on my face.
“Don’t you want to go in?” she asked.
“I’m afraid to,” I mumbled, looking around the street, ignoring Kennedy’s snicker. Many of the other houses were much prettier than mine, so much more modernized. All their lawns were a green-brown, and their trees were very dry as well.
“It’s not that bad,” Kennedy said beside me. “In my opinion, insides better than out.”
With another sigh I turned followed Kennedy into my house.
She turned out to be very right. Inside was nothing like the outside. With all our furniture in place, the house looked almost like a mansion. Everything looked strangely expensive in this building, or maybe it was the way the light hit it. Very far back, past the kitchen and dinner table, I noticed the staircase leading upstairs. Charlie was talking to Jill again, explaining about something he didn’t know where to put. I picked up my bags and headed upstairs, opening doors until I found my things behind them.
My furniture was put in place too, and I dumped my bags on my unclothed bed, looking around. This room was much bigger than mine, and had two windows, one facing the driveway, and one facing a house on our other side. I glanced at the house momentarily, but had to look twice. The windows were wrecked, and it was very dark inside despite the intense sunlight outside. It looked very dusty, and I could make out strange shapes, like couches were turned on their side. It looked like someone had gone on a rampage in there.
“Nobody lives there,” Kennedy informed me from behind, and I turned from the window. If it was possible, that house had an even more uninviting outward appearance than mine.
Kennedy grinned, and the smile made her look younger, more childish. “Told you it was better.”
“I’m glad you were right,” I sighed, sitting down on my bed and massaging my hands, thinking about everything that had happened. I still hated Jill for bringing me here. The heat was excruciating. Apart from Kennedy and her uncle I knew nobody else here, and this town was foreign to me. I was lost, and I was exposed without the safe concealing of my hood.
“Why d’you look so glum?” Kennedy murmured.
I glanced up at her. Kennedy was looking apprehensive; like she was afraid she was being a bother. I pursed my lips, staring at the ground. Of course she wouldn’t know what it was like to move somewhere else so completely different than what you were used to. I had the feeling Kennedy had lived here all her life.
I shook my head. “Nothing.” I turned and began unpacking, the first bag of dozens.
She was silent for a moment behind me, but after a couple minutes she moved into my view. “I think you’d like my brother,” she said randomly.
I lifted my head to give her a fleeting look. Kennedy was watching me with an expression of curiosity mingled with amusement.
I smiled. “Why do you think that?”
She shrugged. “I dunno. You’re a lot like him—in some ways.”
“And how old is your brother?”
“Seventeen. Why?” A smirk was playing around her lips.
This time I shrugged. “Just wondering.”
* * *
The next couple hours weren’t as bad as I’d expected.
Kennedy stayed and helped me unpack, and, though he offered to help as well, Charlie headed home. I asked Kennedy about her uncle’s house being under construction, and she told me what I’d guessed—they were lengthening the house and replacing the roof. Kennedy kept my mind off the fact that I now lived here, and helped me place my things where they went. I took a liking of her, noticing she wasn’t like most kids her age. She was much less girly, more into sports than the mall, she had told me. I was actually enjoying myself, conversing with this nine-year-old, and was grateful she was here to keep me company. It didn’t scare me that I couldn’t make friends at my old school, and suddenly I was friends with a girl seven years younger than me, but it should’ve.
It was when Aunt Jill showed up at the door that Kennedy had to head back home, and with a polite smile at me, left my room. Jill lingered, looking at me strangely. I glared at her and she gave a look of innocent surprise, and then headed downstairs to continue unpacking.
It was my job to unload the boxes marked BATHROOM and LIVING ROOM.
The rest of the day wasn’t as great. I found a lot of dust in the corners of the rooms, and found it hard to remember where all the items and decorations belonged. Like some people said, you never realize how much crap is packed in your house until you move out. Jill was busy working on the kitchen, her room, the dining room, the library/office and every other room in the house.
When we had finally finished I was thoroughly exhausted, and surprised to see the sun was setting outside the window. I wondered where the time had gone as I clambered up to my room to a shower I really needed.
During dinner, Aunt Jill gave me some news.
“Tomorrow we’ll have to get to work on the lawn,” said Jill, pinching a piece of steak and sticking it into her mouth.
I gaped. “You mean—outside?”
“Well, there’s no lawn inside, is there?”
I concealed my anger by stabbing a piece of meat with my fork and chewing it furiously. “Do you know how freaking hot it is out there?” I asked her in an annoyed mutter.
“Bring water.”
I stared at her, taking deep breaths.
“What?” she finally asked, looking perfectly innocent.
I shook my head slowly. I stood, dropping my fork onto my plate with a loud clank. “First you bring me to this—this hellhole, and now you’re asking me to stand outside when it’s a hundred and seven degrees and fix that lawn?” I asked in utter disbelief, staring down at my baffled aunt with fury plain on my face.
Jill looked unruffled and wholly calm. “I’m not asking you—I’m telling you.”
“Are you my tyrant now?” I growled.
She looked like she was trying hard to suppress a laugh. “No, I’m not—”
“It didn’t satisfy you enough to torment me with all those damn therapists? I expect you’ve already called my next one?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Yet,” I spat.
“Audrey,” Aunt Jill sighed, putting her silverware down and staring up at me with deep sincerity in her eyes, “I’m not making you see any more therapists. It obviously didn’t help at all. I told you we’d moved here to start over, and I was serious about that. You need an attitude change. You haven’t worked a day in your life, and you’re about to see what that’s like. I grew up here with Charlie, both of us working like dogs all our lives. And you sit in your room with a magazine all day. You need to see what it’s like to work, Audrey. And it will keep your mind off other things. Understand?”
I stared at my aunt, confused at how I felt. Surprised, yes, because she didn’t sound like herself at all. Horribly irate at what she was saying. Baffled at the honesty in her tone. I couldn’t think of anything to say, so I didn’t, watching her through narrowed eyes.
She smiled conclusively. “Alright, then, tomorrow you’ll work on the lawn. And next door the Thatchers are building their home. Maybe you’ll help them one day.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and stared at her, until a resolute smile came over her lips.
“Sit down and finish, dear,” she said, “or head upstairs.”
I cursed and stormed up the stairs, slamming my door behind me. Charlie seemed to have gotten to her. Maybe being back in her hometown reminded her of her old persona. Whatever the reason for her strange new character, I was enraged. I threw myself on my bed and stared fumingly out the window at the ugly house next door until I fell asleep.
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